Bloody crimes: the chase for Jefferson Davis and the death pageant for Lincoln's corpse

855 Pages·2011·3.934 MB·English

Bloody Crimes
The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the
Death Pageant for Lincoln’s Corpse
James L. Swanson
In memory of my mother, Dianne M. Swanson (1931–
2008), who looked forward to this book but had no
chance to read it.
In remembrance of John Hope Franklin (1915–2009),
with gratitude for three decades of teaching, counsel, and
friendship, and with fond memories of University of
Chicago days.
Table of Contents
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
INTRODUCTION
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE “Flitting Shadows”
CHAPTER TWO “In the Days of Our Youth”
CHAPTER THREE “Unconquerable Hearts”
CHAPTER FOUR “Borne by Loving Hands”
CHAPTER FIVE “The Body of the President
Embalmed!”
CHAPTER SIX “We Shall See and Know Our Friends
in Heaven”
CHAPTER SEVEN “The Cause Is Not Yet Dead”
CHAPTER EIGHT “He Is Named for You”
CHAPTER NINE “ Coffin That Slowly Passes”
CHAPTER TEN “By God, You Are the Men We Are
Looking For”
CHAPTER ELEVEN “Living in a Tomb”
CHAPTER TWELVE “The Shadow of the
Confederacy”
EPILOGUE
EPILOGUE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
NOTES
INDEX
Acknowledgments
Also By James L. Swanson
Copyright
About the Publisher
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

“Bloody Crimes” carte de visite of
1. xiii
Columbia and her eagle
Senator Jefferson Davis on the eve of the
2. 4
Civil War
3. Fall of Richmond paper flag 35
4. Currier & Ives print of Richmond in flames 40
Abraham Lincoln oil portrait, as he
5. 43
appeared in 1865
6. The Petersen House 104
7. Sketch of Lincoln on his deathbed 112
8. The empty bed, just after Lincoln died 128
9. Bloody pillow 129
10. “The President Is Dead” broadside 132
Diagram of the bullet’s path through
11. 134
Lincoln’s brain
12. The bullet that killed Lincoln 135
12. The bullet that killed Lincoln 135
Allegorical print of Booth trapped inside the
13. 137
bullet
14. Portrait engraving of George Harrington 142
15. Invitation to Lincoln’s funeral 187
“Post Office Department” silk ribbon, April
16. 190
19 funeral
17. Lincoln’s hearse, Washington, D.C. 191
18. Photograph of General E. D. Townsend 203
War Department pass for Lincoln funeral
19. 207
train
20. Lincoln’s funeral car 211
Silk mourning ribbon of the U.S. Military
21. 213
Railroad
22. President Lincoln’s hearse, Philadelphia 221
23. The New York funeral procession 226
24. Lincoln in coffin, New York City 230
25. Memorial arch, Sing Sing, New York 233
26. Viewing pavilion, Cleveland, Ohio 253
Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad
27. 260
Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad
27. 260
timetable
28. Photograph of memorial arch, Chicago 264
Lincoln’s old law office; Springfield, May,
29. 272
1865
A map of the Abraham Lincoln funeral train
30. 275
route
Harper’s Weekly woodcut of burial in
31. 283
Springfield, Illinois
32. The first reward poster for Jefferson Davis 297
33. A map of Jefferson Davis’s escape route 300
Photograph of Davis in the suit he wore at
34. 310
capture
35. $360,000 reward poster for Davis 319
36. Three caricatures depicting Davis in a dress 323
The raglan, shawl, and spurs Davis wore on
37. 328
the day of capture
38. Print of Davis ridiculed in prison 334
39. Sketch of Davis in his cell 335
Lincoln’s home draped in bunting, May 24,
40. 339
1865
40. 339
1865
Davis as a caged hyena wearing a ladies’
41. 343
bonnet
42. “The True Story…” print ridiculing Davis 346
43. Oil portrait of Jefferson Davis, ca. 1870s 360
Davis and family on their porch at Beauvoir,
44. 362
Mississippi
45. Oscar Wilde–inscribed photograph 364
46. Jefferson Davis late in life at Beauvoir 377
47. Davis lying in state, New Orleans, 1889 379
48. A map of the Davis funeral train route 380
Davis’s New Orleans funeral procession,
49. 384
1889
Raleigh, North Carolina, floral display and
50. 385
procession, 1893
The ghosts of Willie and Abraham haunting
51. 389
Mary Lincoln
Photographs of porcelain Lincoln memorial
52. 395
obelisk
The site of Jefferson Davis’s capture, near
53. 399
The site of Jefferson Davis’s capture, near
53. 399
Irwinville, Georgia
Jefferson Davis’s library at Beauvoir,
54. 403
Mississippi